testing alternator?
 

so i think i have not one, but 2 bad alternators. is there a way to test the one on my car now with a multimeter? i'd pull it but i just pulled the one that came on the stock JDM(which im taking in tomorrow to have tested) and put my usdm one on it, but the car still died while driving. i didnt have a fully charged battery and had my amp pullin max power for my sub, so the usdm one might be good. ive got a fresh battery(god i love the 3 year free replacement, im on my 4th battery in 5 months and only one of them was actually bad) and its been running fine for the past 5-6 hrs, but i still wana test it just incase.

what i do to my cars is that i pull the negative terminal off the battery. if the car stops then you have a bad alternator.

well... the one off the JDM motor checked out ok when i got it tested, and the usdm one on my car didnt. so i might have to switch them back again. as for my battery dying the first time, the belt was loose and drained the battery once because of that im guessing, BUT when i jumped it, it wouldnt hold a charge after i tightened the belt... should i go ahead and switch alternators back and hope that the battery was just too dead before?

is there an engine ground that directly effects the alternator? ive triple checked everywhere i could remeber a ground being since that was the cause of my fuel pump and starter problem. this is driving me crazy, the car runs absolutly perfect besides every 2 days it seems like the battery is getting low so i slap it on the charger overnight now.

my other theory is something to do with my system. its not that powerful, maybe 400w max, but ive never had issues with it before. if for some odd reason i got the + and - crossed in my door speakers(only thing ive f-ed with since the swap) that couldnt do it could it? i dont think it could, but at this point im willing to try anything to fix it

the speakers shouldn't do that. maybe it is just a ground. try cleaning the terminals too, and add lots of dielectric grease to it.

terminals are brand new, i tried the pulling the negative terminal and it died right away. im not looking forward to changing alternators back since im about 99% sure its something electrical.

edit> its electrical, new thread here:

http://www.hstuners.com/forums/showt...threadid=23607